Life's Brief Walk Ends
by Winged Senea
Summary: One shot. The best times in life are always the shortest...Yuri finds this out the hard way. Everything comes to an end. WARNING CHARACTER DEATH Set a few years after the game


Senea: Not much to say with this one. It's dedciate d to an anniversary that's coming up next week. I was depressed and sort of channeled it into this fic. It's choppy but I've never done soemthing like this before. Enjoy it though and please don't kill me. I cried while writing this...

I don't own anything.

**WARNING CHARACTER DEATH!**

* * *

Life's Brief Walk Ends

Yuri squinted as the moonlight filtered its way into his room and rested directly in his line of sight. He frowned, confused. He slept through more light than that but why had he woken up? He turned on his other side, the bed creaking softly as he did so. He sighed as the light faded from his eyes and shifted into falling back asleep.

And then a floorboard squeaked.

He groaned. It was nice being in his old room again but he forgot how creaky the floor was.

Another squeak, this time accompained by a clip. Yuri's ear perked. He opened his eyes and poked his head out of the covers, scanning his room blurrily, seeing nothing but dark shapes and the window. Before he turned his head back onto the pillow, the tapping came back.

"Mmph?" He shuffled his body so that he was sitting up, looking on the floor, noticing a long black tail swaying. "Re...Repede? That you?"

Repede whined in response to his master, sitting at the foot of his bed, his head tilted to the side and he whined once again.

Yuri frowned, worried. "Repede? Something wrong, boy?" He patted his bed to invite him up, just like always. He saw the dark form of his companion shift and jump gracefully on the bed. Even with his old age, the dog was in good shape. He watched as he shuffled closer to him, lying down as if he was a human sleeping, his head lying in his paws near the pillow. His tail slowly wagged at the chance to be up here. Yuri scratched behind his ear, just in the right spot, watching his tail wag a little bit faster.

The dog began to pant and moved closer to Yuri, nuzzling his face into his hand. He was trying to say something, trying to tell him something important. He whined again, followed by a soft woof.

Yuri's frown increased. His instincts told him something was wrong. He tried to swallow a lump that began to form in his throat. It wasn't anything serious. It wasn't. "What's all this for, suddenly, Repede? You're not usually like this." He was trying hard not to think of what it was. His mind was just playing tricks on him, that's all, he was just tired. It was the look and sigh that came from Repede next that he knew what was going on. "Damn it, you better not be. Don't...don't be joking like that."

Repede licks his hand and looks at him apologetically. He felt it. It wouldn't be long now. He was just glad he would be able to spend the rest of his time with his master, his friend. Repede blocked out the tiredness for now, prolonging his sleep. Just a bit more.

Yuri bit his lower lip as he stared at his friend for all these years. One that was going to disappear tonight. "Repede..." His voice hitched in his throat and he swallowed again. He began to pet him, scratching at his ears again. "You need anything? Before you..." He swallowed again. "Some food? ...Or, water?"

Repede barked softly, declining the offer and snuggled against him some more. Yuri gave him a sad smile and just continued to pet him, humming slightly, to calm himself down, to comfort Repede, or to put some sound into the quiet room, he didn't know. He just stared at his friend, making sure he was comfortable, waiting for something he never wanted to come. It was all he could do.

Yuri heard the breathing of his companion quicken slightly, his chest moving up and down at an abnormal rate. He felt the rock lodge itself back in his throat as he laid down and wrapped his arms around Repede, petting his head. Repede looked back at his master and smiled the way only a dog could. He felt his breathing slowing down, soon it would stop. He licked Yuri's cheek one last time as a goodbye and a thank you. He felt himself get really tired. He could feel Yuri tighten his hold on him, whispering a goodbye. He closed his eyes.

* * *

Flynn heard a click. And then some shuffling in his room. He made a light noise before trying to block out what he thought he was hearing. It was only when he felt a shift in the bed's weight that he jolted from his sleep. His eyes wandered over to the dark figure, recongnizing him instantly.

"Yuri? Wha...What are you doing here? It's too early in the morning..." He said, his voice cracking from being woken up

It took a moment for Yuri to respond. He drew in a shaky breath and Flynn noticed that the sheets were shivering slightly. "Repede's dead." It was a little over a whisper but Flynn heard it as if it was yelled in his ear.

"What?" Flynn asked, bolting the rest of the way up, fully awake now.

A small tilt in the figure's head and Flynn could see Yuri's eyes glowing in the light. It looked like he was trying hard not to cry. "A while ago he...He came up on my bed and..." He clenched his fists tightly into the blanket, feeling his nails digging into the palms of his hands. "And he said goodbye." His voice was shaking.

Flynn sat there, speechless. Trying to understand what Yuri had just told him. He had just seen them this afternnon, and Repede was boucing around like his normal self. And, now he was gone. Flynn felt his heart wrench. It felt like he was just playing with him when he was a puppy, taking care of him with Yuri when he had gotten that scar, how long ago was that?

Yuri inhaled shakily again, knocking Flynn out of his thoughts. "I...I need some help. To...carry him...He..." He trailed off, looking down to the ground. His hands were still clenching the sheets, his arms shaking.

Flynn nodded, understanding what he was going to ask. "Alright. Just give me a moment. I'll help out." He blinked back his own tears away as he got up from his bed and started to grab some of his clothes from his closet. He heard Yuri shuffle away and go back through the window. When he heard the click again, the knight froze and stopped what he was doing. His shoulders began to shake. Placing his hand over his eyes, he felt the tears begin to fall.

* * *

It took some time, but they managed it. When Flynn and Yuri went back to his room, the knight stared at the still form of Repede, thinking he was asleep. But, there was no movement, no sign that they walked in to the room. Nothing. Using the blanket on Yuri's bed - Flynn reminded himself to give him a new one - they carried him out of Yuri's room and towards the field. By the time they finished digging, the sun was breaking out, turning the chilly night warm.

They laid the dog down the hole, telling him their goodbyes in silence. Yuri gave him one last pet, followed by Flynn and they began to bury him. Once done, Yuri slid down and sat against a tree nearby, bringing his kness up to his chest. Flynn stood against it, his hands behind his back. They hadn't spoken since they were in Flynn's room. Both were staring at newly made burial.

"...He was always there." Yuri said after a short while, his voice slightly cracking. "Even when you, Hanks, or anyone wasn't, he was. I was never alone with Repede around...Now what do I do?"

Flynn bit his lip. This was really the first time he's seen his friend like this in a long time. He looked so lost. Like he's given up. "Yuri..." The knight sat down beside his friend and wrapped his arm around Yuri, feeling his own eyes fill up with tears again.

Yuri wrapped his own arms around Flynn, his face going into the crook of his friends neck. He didn't care to be strong at that point, and he let the tears fall, his shoulders shaking from muffled sobs. Flynn wrapped his other arm around him and rubbed the mans back. His own tears running down his face.

After a few minutes, Yuri broke away, wiping his eyes. He gave Flynn a small smile before standing up. Flynn joined him, looking back to the grave that they had just finished.

"He took care of us as much as we did him." Flynn said. "We won't forget you, Repede."

Yuri nodded. With that said, they walked back to the lower quarter.

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Senea: Please don't kill me! I'm a horrible person ;~; But yeah, short sweet and to the point. I hope you enjoyed it. It's dedicated to all of those who have lost a furry friend. It's hard, it really is. Please review to tell me what you think. Liked? Hated? Cried? I would like to know. Thank you.


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